Automated method and system for introducing Liquid iodine into drinking water

ABSTRACT

A system for delivering molecular iodine or other substance into a pet&#39;s drinking water on a daily basis without exceeding the safe amount allowed for the pet. The system delivers a particular amount of molecular iodine into the pet water supply to achieve maximum benefit of I 2  to reduce or eliminate bad pet breath and minimize total iodine in the pet diet so that 20-40 μg/mL/Kg/day iodine is consumed for optimum thyroid health. The preferred method is to use a solution created by dissolving iodine crystals in absolute ethanol. The iodine will only be in solution as I 2  for a short time as it undergoes out gassing and hydrolysis at neutral pH. The present invention removes the iodine from the drinking water after the pet drinks. Therefore, during the day, pets will get no additional iodine—only fresh water. Each enrolled pet is electronically recognized by the system.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/656,213filed Mar. 12, 2015 which was a continuation-in-part of application Ser.No. 13/916,681 filed Jun. 13, 2013 which was a divisional of applicationSer. No. 13/018,955 filed Feb. 1, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,470,303.Application Ser. No. 13/018,955 claimed priority from Provisional Patentapplication 61/300,630 filed Feb. 2, 2010. Application Ser. Nos.14/656,213, 13/916,681, 13/018,955 and 61/300,630 are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of pet and humanhealth and more particularly to an automated method for curing badbreath by periodically introducing a safe amount of molecular iodineinto drinking water.

Description of the Prior Art

It is known in the art that in many circumstances so-called bad oralbreath is caused by microbes in the mouth and specifically between theteeth and gum tissue. Some of these microbes produce sulfur-containingcompounds that can lead to “rottenegg” breath and can be very pronouncedin animals with periodontal disease.

It is also known in the art to use iodine to disinfect drinking water,and in particular, others have used iodine to disinfect animal drinkingwater. For example, the system sold under the name of UltraDyne-a™ addsone cap full of its iodine containing formula to 30,000 parts ofanimal's drinking water resulting in a working solution of 1-5 ppm/mL.This can result in very large amounts of iodine anions along withmolecular iodine or “free iodine” being consumed on a daily basis. Theamounts added to the water will result in the animals consuming 10-20times the recommended amount of total iodine for thyroid function andcould lead to deleterious outcomes (weight loss, hyperthyroidism,failure to thrive, etc.). Prior art iodine additives use a mixture ofiodine compounds including iodides and iodates as well as moleculariodine. This is generally done since molecular iodine dissipates fairlyrapidly from water at neutral pH. The iodides and iodates, at a slightlyacid pH, continue to produce more molecular iodine.

Harvey et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,374 teach disinfecting water forfarm animals with iodine. Solid iodine is first dissolved in water toproduce a saturated iodine species-containing aqueous solution at apre-selected temperature. This solution is then blended with thedrinking water to produce a diluted iodine species bacterium-freeaqueous solution. A disadvantage of this method is that generally thewater has to be heated to a controlled temperature to dissolve theiodine. Also, Harvey recommends maintaining a fixed amount of iodineconcentration in the water continuously. This is a disadvantage becauseit may lead to particular animals ingesting too much iodine, and becauseiodine generally leaves a water solution fairly rapidly at roomtemperature, there may be considerable wasted iodine.

Iodine exists in many forms in aqueous solution at room temperature andneutral pH. These include I⁻, I₂, HOI, H2OI⁺, OI⁻, I₃ ⁻, and I₅ ⁻.Because I₂ is the only anti-infective form of iodine in water at pHbelow 7 (HOI dominates in water above pH 7) in any of the prior artsystems, it would be very advantageous to have a unique system thatdelivers only molecular iodine (I₂) into pet drinking water. Such amethod and system will kill oral bacteria responsible for bad breath. Inaddition, iodine reacts with sulfur containing compounds e.g., hydrogensulfide responsible for the malodor in pet breath and neutralizes theodor by the reaction between molecular iodine and methyl mercaptan,dimethyl sulfide and hydrogen sulfide, to produce the correspondingsulfonic acids which have substantially reduced odor or sulfur smell.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed toward a unique system and method fordelivering molecular iodine into a pet's drinking water on a daily basiswithout exceeding the safe amount allowed for the pet. The presentinvention delivers a particular amount of molecular iodine into the petwater supply to achieve maximum benefit of I₂ to reduce or eliminate badpet breath and minimize total iodine in the pet diet so that 20-40μg/mL/Kg/day iodine is consumed for optimum thyroid health. Thepreferred method is to use a solution created by dissolving iodinecrystals in absolute ethanol. Molecular iodine is completely soluble in100% alcohol. The advantage of using iodine in 100% alcohol is that avery small aliquot (0.5 mL into 500 mL water) of 1% iodine (10,000μg/mL) can be injected into water to achieve instant dissolution andachieve the desired iodine concentration rapidly. The iodine will onlybe in solution as I₂ for a short time as it undergoes out gassing andhydrolysis at neutral pH. Furthermore, the present invention removesiodine from the drinking water after the pet drinks. Therefore, duringthe day, pets will get no additional iodine—only fresh water from thewater reservoir. The present invention delivers optimal amounts ofiodine to achieve optimal thyroid health and function in addition toeliminating bad breath. There are several ways to accomplish this;however, a preferred way is to deliver the iodine at the time when petsdrink—first in the AM and later in the PM or only one time per 24-hourperiod. The system will use a radio frequency (Rf) transmitter andreceiver-based system specific for each pet. The system will recognizeeach pet specifically and deliver iodine only at designated times and atdesigned volumes. At all other times the water system will only deliverpure water. This system disinfects the pet bowl, pet(s) would getantiseptic doses of iodine in the morning and all pets would get iodinefor optimum thyroid health and function. The preferred embodiment of thepresent invention recognizes a particular pet approaching the bowl withan Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag. Any pet recognition methodis within the scope of the present invention.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to deliver moleculariodine into a pet's drinking water on a daily basis without exceedingthe safe amount allowed for the pet.

It is a further object of the invention to deliver a predeterminedamount of iodine each day sufficient to disinfect the water and providethe correct amount of iodine needed by the pet.

It is a further object of the invention to deliver molecular iodine intowater by using aliquots of pure iodine dissolved in absolute alcohol.

It is a further object of the invention to deliver iodine into drinkingwater from a disposable canister.

It is an object of some embodiments of the present invention to identifyindividual pets as they approach a water source so that each pet'siodine intake can be separately monitored.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent inthe following descriptions and illustrations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Attention is now directed to several drawings that illustrate featuresof the present invention:

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention as a water reservoirand drinking bowl

FIG. 2 shows some of the parts included in the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an electrical block diagram of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 shows a fluid block diagram of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Several drawings and illustrations have been presented to aid inunderstanding the present invention. The scope of the present inventionis not limited to what is shown in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to a system and method for dispensingmolecular iodine in controlled amounts into drinking water, and inparticular into a pet's drinking water. The method for curing pet badbreath comprising the steps of (1) sensing the presence of a specificpet followed by (2) precise pump delivery of an aliquot of moleculariodine into (3) a water reservoir followed by pet drinking theimmediately iodinated water followed by (4) pet movement away from waterreservoir. The pet movement away from the water reservoir produces (5) asignal that switches a valve (6) that passes all water in the water bowlthrough (7) a filter device that removes remaining iodine from the waterbowl and results in a full reservoir of iodine-free water now filteredand purified.

(1) Each pet has a unique signal sending device attached to the pet. Apreferred signal sending device is an RFID tag. The signal generated bythe device is specifically designed to only be detected when the pet isimmediately above the drinking water. (2) Each unique sending device isprogrammed with the pet identification so that the correct iodine dosewill be given once per day per animal. At all other times in a 24-hourperiod when the pet drinks generally no iodine is injected into thewater reservoir. This schedule can be changed for a particular pet ifnecessary. (3) The iodine is injected into the water and rapidly mixedwith the water in a reservoir. (4) When the animal finishes drinking andleaves the water reservoir the signal loss (5) triggers a valve thatpumps the remaining iodinated water through a filter to remove remainingiodine and (6) filtered water returns to the reservoir and (7) new waterenters the water bowl from the water reservoir to return the watervolume to a predetermined amount. The volume of water consumed by anyanimal is approximately proportional to the animal's weight.

Therefore if the molecular iodine concentration in water is 5-10 mcg/mLthen the amount of water consumed at a single early AM will supply bothsufficient iodine to eliminate pet bad breath, kill oral pathogens andsupply sufficient iodine for optimal thyroid health and thyroid hormonemaintenance.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the presentinvention. A water reservoir and case 1 with electronic and fluidcomponents is situated above a pet water drinking bowl 2. The case 1also contains a programmed electronic controller, pumps and a filter.

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1, but shows an RFID tag reader antenna 3, apump 6, an electronics module 4 and an additive reservoir 5 thatgenerally contains Iodine.

An RF (radio frequency) transmitter/receiver (RFID tag reader) module isattached to processor. Each unique RF module or RFID tag would beattached to a particular pet or animal. Each pet or animal has a uniquesignature. A water reservoir (contained in 1) is fluidly attached to thewater bowl 2. A control circuit board 4 containing the RF detectionmodule and digital circuitry to control the pump and pump valve.Generally, the control circuit board 4 contains a processor. This can bea microprocessor, micro-controller, PC processor, or any otherprocessor. The present invention can also be controlled remotely overthe Internet, or remotely from any location either via a network or byradio. The water reservoir and water bowl are typically designed tomaintain a constant volume of water (such as 500 mL or any other value)in the water bowl at all times. If the iodine cartridge (which can bedisposable) contains 1.0 mg/mL of molecular iodine in 100% ethanol, thenthe system will inoculate 0.5 mL into the water supply to create a finaliodine concentration of 10 mcg/mL in 500 mL water. While thisconcentration is given by way of example, any other concentration iswithin the scope of the present invention. When the pet is finisheddrinking and leaves the bowl area the RF signal will be lost, and thewater valve will switch to flush iodine from the bowl. All the remainingiodinated water will pass through the disposable filtration cartridgecontaining substances that remove iodine from the water and the filteredwater is returned to the water bowl. Additional water can then enter thewater bowl from the water reservoir to again achieve a final desiredvolume. When the same pet again comes to the water bowl later in thesame 24-hour period the system will not deliver more iodine. This petwill typically not receive more iodine until the next day.

The present invention delivers a predetermined amount of moleculariodine into the pet water supply to achieve maximum benefit of I₂ toreduce or eliminate bad pet breath and minimize total iodine in the petdiet so that 20-40 mcg/mL/Kg iodine is consumed for optimum thyroidhealth. The preferred method is to use a solution created by dissolvingiodine crystals in absolute ethanol. Molecular iodine is completelysoluble in 100% alcohol. The advantage of using iodine in 100% alcoholis that a very small aliquot of 1% iodine (10,000 mcg/mL) can beinjected into water to achieve instant dissolution and achieve thedesired iodine concentration rapidly. The iodine will only be insolution as I₂ for a short time as it undergoes out gassing andhydrolysis at neutral pH. Therefore, during the day pets will get noadditional iodine—only fresh water from the water reservoir. The presentinvention delivers optimal amounts of iodine to achieve optimal thyroidhealth and function in addition to eliminating bad breath.

A preferred way of practicing the present invention is as follows: thesystem can deliver the iodine at time when pets drink—first in the AMand later in the PM or only once per day either in the AM or PM. Thesystem can use a clock to deliver iodine to achieve a concentration inthe pet water of 5-10 ppm/mL from e.g., 5-7 AM and later from 5-7 PM.All other times the water system would only deliver pure water. Thissystem disinfects the pet bowl, pet(s) would get antiseptic doses ofiodine in the morning and evening and all pets would get iodine foroptimum thyroid health and function. No other pet water systemdisinfects the pet water after the water enters the drinking bowl andmaintains a clean bowl as a result.

A typical embodiment of the present invention can include a waterreservoir, a clock or timer, an iodine injection cartridge or othermechanism, and a drinking bowl for the pet. Since many facilities havemultiple pets, it is advantageous in some embodiments to identifyparticular pets and control iodine dispensing based on a particular pet.This can be done with a collar RFID tag or other readable identificationdevice. However, one embodiment of the present invention simplydispenses iodine into the water in the morning and evening (or at otherparticular times) without distinguishing between pets in a household.Normally, all of the pets will drink at these times and receive theirrequired iodine. The bowl will remain clean during the day and night,and at other times, the pets simply receive fresh water.

The following reactions involving iodine should be noted:

2I⁻-2e→I₂ formation of molecular iodine  (1)

HOI↔H⁺+I⁻ dissociation of hypoiodic acid  (2)

I₂+H₂0↔HOI+H⁺+I⁻ hydrolysis of molecular iodine  (3)

HOI+H⁺↔H₂OI⁺ protonation of hypoiodic acid  (4)

H₂OI⁺↔HOI+OI⁻+H⁺ hydrolysis of iodine cation  (5)

OI⁻+I⁻+H₂O↔HI₂O⁻+OH⁻ iodination of hypoiodite  (6)

I₂+I⁻↔I₃ ⁻ triiodine formation  (7)

The only significant anti-infective iodine species in water is moleculariodine (I₂). In the pH range of 6.0<->7.0, I₂ is favored when I₂ isadded directly into water. As can be seen from equation (3) I₂ willundergo hydrolysis rather rapidly (minutes to hours), and also I₂ haslow solubility in water at standard temperature and pressure (STP). Ifthe pH of the water is kept at about pH 6.0, I₂ is favored, but if thepH is above 7.0, I₂ will hydrolyze (3) to I⁻ and HOI and I₃ ⁻ (7) canform and accumulate in the water. I have determined experimentally thatI₂ is lost from the water at room temperature at a linear rate of about0.3 mcg/mL/hour when the pH of the water was adjusted to ˜pH5-5.5 withacetic acid to prolong survival of I₂ in water. Thus after 24 hours >90%of the I₂ is lost either to hydrolysis

I₂+H₂0↔HOI+H⁺+I⁻ hydrolysis of molecular iodine

or volatile I₂ via out gassing. At higher pH, the iodine will dissipatefaster or be converted to HOI. At neutral pH=7 the I2 loss is ˜0.5mcg/mL/hr so that >90% is gone within 4 hours.

I have also determined experimentally some water consumption rates forpets: I measured the volume of water the test subjects (two 35 kg dogsand two 4 kg cats) consumed over a 24 hour period in four separateexperiments and the average daily water consumption was 2.7 liters/24hours. If we assume water consumption is approximately proportional toanimal body weight then the animals were drinking 35 mL water/kg/day.Furthermore, the average I₂ concentration was approximately 5 mcg/mLover the 24 hour time period. The amounts are summarized below.

Animal Test Animal Weight (Kg) Water Consumption Iodine Consumption

Subject (mL/24 hrs) (mcg/mL/24 hr) Dog 1 35 1225 6125 Dog 2 35 1225 6125Cat 1 4 140 700 Cat 2 4 140 700

The daily recommended dietary iodine dose is 20-40 mcg/Kg in humans. Itis generally recognized that the daily dog/cat iodine thyroid iodinerequirement would be approximately the same as the adult human dailyiodine requirement and the daily adult human iodine requirement is 20-40mcg/Kg/day. Therefore, the dog test subjects should consume between700-1400 mcg I₂/day and the cat test subjects should consume 80-160 mcgI₂/day.

The conclusion from these studies is that these animal pet subjectsconsumed 4.35->8.75 times the daily-recommended dosage of iodine. Therewere no obvious changes in pet behavior, food consumption or excretionHowever, they were followed for only 4 days. Later, they were followedfor 3 weeks with 12 at 1-5 mcg/mL and no ill effects were noted.

In order to keep charged iodine species in the water from rising toohigh, particular embodiments of the invention can include a mixed bedresin in a filtration cartridge to remove only charged ions e.g., I⁻, I₃⁻, OI⁻ and H₂OI⁻. Uncharged I₂ passes through the filtration cartridgeand will also maintain antisepsis for the entire cartridge. The primaryreason for removing the charged ions is that even though do notcontribute to antisepsis or disinfection, they nevertheless contributeto the total amount of iodine in the pet's body and could lead toexcessive iodination of thyroid and possibly lead to hyperthyroidism.Activated charcoal and mixed bed resin will be included in thefiltration device to remove all or most of the iodine forms.

Various compositions of the iodine solution can be used in the presentinvention in the form of a disposable cartridge with the preferred beingsimply iodine crystals dissolved in absolute alcohol. While commercialtincture of iodine might be used as a source of I₂, tincture of iodineis more precisely termed “Iodine Tincture USP” and contains 2% iodine,2.4% iodide and 47% alcohol. The potential problem with this iodinesource is that more than half of the total iodine is iodide (I⁻) andserves no use in present invention other than provide unnecessary addediodine to the pet total body iodine concentration.

As stated, one embodiment uses solid iodine crystals in 100% ethanol(absolute ethanol). A possible 10% stock solution of I₂ in 100% ethanolcan be prepared by dissolving 1 gram of solid iodine in 10 mL of 100%ethanol (100 mg/mL). A 1% iodine solution can be prepared in 100%ethanol using a 1:10 dilution of the stock or 10 mg/mL. This results in10,000 ppm/mL in ethanol.

As previously stated, one embodiment of the invention simply dispenses apredetermined amount of iodine into the pet drinking water at particulartimes during the day (morning and evening for example) withoutdistinguishing between particular pets. A more complex embodiment candetect a particular pet approaching the bowl using an RFID tag or otherwireless device on the pet collar. The exact amount of iodine dispensedcan be based on the pet identification.

The activation of iodine delivery to water is based on system sensing ofthe pet presence. One concept is a simple proximity sensor. Once the petis near the dish the system is activated and fresh iodinated water ispumped into the bowl. This can be accomplished with either motionsensors or sensors on the pet collar. Another concept is that each pethas a microchip on the pet collar that identifies each pet. In additionthe system can detect which pet is about to drink water and injectiodine into the system appropriate for each pet. For example, if a petdrank a lot of water on a hot day the system will know approximately howmuch iodinated water the pet had consumed during the day. A safe dailyiodine intake for mammals including man is 20-40 mg/Kg body weights per24 hr period. This range can be programmed for each pet and stored sothe system knows how much iodinated water each pet receives. Therefore,the system micro chip identity collar will permit regulation of thedietary iodine intake, measure the amount of water consumed daily andpermit storing of pet water consumption including wireless access whenowners are traveling to provide peace of mind as to pet safety. Itshould be pointed out that the pet microchip collar system could easilybe used with a food dispensing system.

As stated, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, iodinecan be injected in the morning and/or evening. Then, after the petdrinks (or pets drink), the iodine can be removed by the filter.

A processor with a timer can control a valve to allow predeterminedamounts of iodine to be injected into the drinking water at particulartimes of the day. The processor may be a microprocessor, microcontrolleror personal computer, or it may simply be a logic circuit that performsthe function. If it is a processor, it can also be equipped withvolatile and non-volatile memory as is known in the art. The processorcan also control the pump The pump while preferably a small electricpump can be any type of pressure generating system. The timer may be atime-of-day clock or a simple counter. Any types of pumps, timers orprocessors are within the scope of the present invention. As mentioned,a wireless transponder may be used to identify a particular pet. Thismay be an RFID transponder known in the art, or it may be any other typeof wireless system for communicating with a pet collar or pet implantchip. The preferred method is to use an RFID tag on the pet collar withthe transponder being an RFID transponder or receiver.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a basic embodiment of the presentinvention. User inputs 7 are put into software executing in theprocessor 8. These can include the exact dose and frequency of dosingfor each pet registered into the system. A new pet can be entered, andan old pet removed. Enrollment can consist of entering an identifier forthe pet and then presenting its RFID collar to the RFID reader 10.

When an enrolled pet approaches the RFID reader 10, its particular tagis read and identified. The processor can then determine if a doseshould be administered. If a dose is to be administered, one of theadditive (iodine) pumps 9, 12 can inject an exact amount of iodinesolution into the bowl. When the pet leaves, the processor 8 can commanda circulation pump (not shown) to activate and remove the watercontaining iodine, preferably through replaceable filter canister. Analternative is to simply eject the iodine containing water into a drainor holding tank. A LED 11 can indicate when iodine is being administeredto a pet or alternatively when an enrolled pet has been detected.

FIG. 4 shows a fluid diagram of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. The water bowl 2 is connected to the water reservoir in thecase 1. A filter canister 14 can remove iodine when a circulation pump16 is activated. Additive pumps 9 and 12 can administer iodine fromadditive reservoirs 5 and 15 respectively. As previously noted, otheradditives besides iodine may be desirable such as vitamins or evenprescription drugs. In this case, one of the additive reservoirs cancontain iodine and the other can contain any other substance. In oneembodiment of the present invention, the invention is not used toadminister iodine, but rather up to two additives of any type. Theprocessor can be programmed for any type of substance administration,and any type of substance administration is within the scope of thepresent invention.

In summary, the present invention can supply antiseptic anti-infectiveiodine or other substances into pet drinking water so that severalimportant events occur:

-   1. Offensive pet breath is eliminated and in fact is virtually    odorless.-   2. Optimal thyroid health is promoted by guaranteeing optimal    iodination of the thyroid gland.-   3. The pet water supply stays clean and fresh at all times and there    is no microbial growth or bio-film/slime in the dish.-   4. Antiseptic iodine will inhibit progression of periodontal disease    and cat stomatitis.-   5. Oral mucosal wounds will be disinfected.-   6. Pet water consumption will be monitored and recorded for owner    peace of mind.

Prior art systems have not used iodine to prevent pet breath because:most people consider PVP-iodine or Betadine to be the primary form ofiodine disinfectant. PVP-iodine is 10% total iodine. Of all iodinespecies in 10% PVP-iodine only 2-3 ppm/mL is I₂. PVP-iodine is notacceptable as a treatment for water disinfection or any oral antisepsis.Only I₂ is anti-infective. If anyone would add I₂/free molecular iodineto an open dish of water they would discover that all I₂ is gone fromthe system with in several hours. I₂ is poorly soluble in water and will“de-gas” rapidly form a water suspension. This means that I₂ will leaveas a gas very rapidly. It has not been appreciated in the prior art thatpure I₂ can be added to a water source and provide a constant antisepticconcentration of molecular iodine exactly when the pet drinks and fillsthe oral cavity with anti-infective iodine and thereby kills oralbacteria responsible for “bad breath”.

An embodiment of the present invention uses a stainless steel bowl sinceit has been determined by experiment that pets prefer it to a plasticbowl or bowl of other material. The stainless steel bowl is also asignificant improvement for several reasons. One is the ease of cleaningin, for example, a dishwasher to eliminate any biofilms that might existin any water bowl. The biofilm is a source of microbial contaminationand will inactivate the iodine due to binding to the highlyproteinaceous nature of any biofilm.

In any case, pet water bowls become contaminated with bacteria and asource of potentially hazardous bacteria, fungi or viruses. All petwater systems that use filtration systems filter the water before thewater enters the pet bowl. Such systems remove antimicrobial chlorineand thus make the water vulnerable to microbial growth. The presentinvention filters the water after it enters the pet bowl and by addingmolecular iodine (I₂) into the water, prevents microbial growth in thepet bowl and maintains a clean healthy water supply. Prior art systemsclean the water by draining all the water to remove any substance. Thepresent invention uses an activated charcoal filter to specificallyremove contaminants and unconsumed molecular iodine without draining thewater from the unit thus making the entire system easier to use withless need to waste water. A charcoal filter in cartridge can be used inconjunction with a second filter designed to remove primarily animalhair. If this second filter is not used, animal hair becomes entangledaround the water mixing propeller. The hair can cause the rotating partinside the immersion pump to become entangled and stop working.Therefore the preferred method is to use two separate filters. Thecharcoal filter position in the unit is such that permits water to flowunder the filter cartridge to maintain a steady water current tofacilitate iodine mixing but sufficient to eventually remove >90% of theiodine not consumed by dog or cat.

An embodiment of the present invention prefers a passive RFID system inlieu of the active one. The passive system negates the necessity of apower source on the tag itself which allows for the tags to be workedinto nearly anything (subcutaneous, embedded in a collar itself,embedded in a plastic tag that is hung from a collar, and the like).

Additionally, this embodiment benefits from the use of the stainlesssteel bowl, as this is a good reflector of high frequency (HF) radiowaves and the passive system operates at 13.56 MHz. This means the metalwater bowl effectively acts as a form of “radio telescope” focusing theRF waves right where the tag will be. This effect gives the product moreconsistent tag reads, and reduces one or both of the power requirementsof the broadcasting antenna and the size requirements of the tagantenna. The steel bowl thus acts as a reflector of an RFIDinterrogation radio signal.

The following has been determined by field trials:

-   1. Lights on front of unit scare some pets causing them to now want    to drink again from the device—the solution is to locate LED    indicator lights (proximity, antiseptic/iodine pump on, low water    signal both visual and audio) on the top of the unit with a shield    to prevent animals from seeing the lights go on and off;-   2. The start of water pump scares some of the pets—the solution is a    continuously rotating propeller in the water bowl is essential    silent. Cats significantly prefer moving water. The gentle current    in the bowl is also effective for mixing the iodine antiseptic when    injected into the water bowl.-   3. Moving the entire unit to the sink to clean is a problem. The    solution is that the unit never leaves the floor. Embodiments have a    base and footprint that significantly lowers the center of gravity    much closer to the floor and essentially eliminates the possibility    of being tipped over by a large pet; A “head” lifts on a back pivot    and rotates up and backward to reveal the propeller and delivery    tubes/pipes. The stainless steel water bowl rests inside the base in    “nested” configuration that significantly reduces the possibility of    accidental spilling/tipping over. The animal water source is    critical to pets' health and must be protected.-   4. The RFID tag must be small, especially for cats or smaller pets.    Small dogs and cats are be reluctant to wear an RFID sending device    with on board battery because of size. It is preferable that the    RFID tag be passive.-   5. The depth of the bowl (bowl height) should be deep. A shallow    water bowl height i.e., 2 inches is not preferred because of water    dripping off the pet's mouth, whereas a much deeper bowl wall e.g.,    6″ produces much less water mess in front of the device.-   6. The antiseptic cartridge must be inserted and removed easily. The    antiseptic cartridge including the two filters should fit into the    unit in a way analogous to a print cartridge for a printer.

It should be noted that the same compounds that cause bad breath inanimals also are present in humans. The system of the present inventioncan be adapted to provide drinking water for humans that have the samebeneficial effects for humans, namely eliminating bad breath andproviding a source of daily iodine intake.

It should also be noted that the present invention can be used with anyanimal, pet or wild, and can be used with humans including humanchildren.

Several descriptions and illustrations have been presented to aid inunderstanding the features of the present invention. One skilled in theart will realize that numerous changes and variations can be madewithout departing from the spirit of the present invention. Each ofthese changes and variations is within the scope of the presentinvention.

1. An apparatus for injecting molecular iodine into pet drinking watercomprising: a pet-access drinking container; a dual filter cartridgecontaining both an activated charcoal filter and a hair filter; acontinuously-running circulation pump, wherein the circulation pump isadapted to pass water from the pet-access drinking container through thefilter cartridge to remove excess molecular iodine; a molecular iodinedispenser containing a solution of molecular iodine in absolute alcoholconstructed to dispense the molecular iodine solution into thepet-access drinking container, the solution of molecular iodine being a1% solution; a pet identification module adapted to read a passive RFIDtag worn by a pet to produce a pet identification; a processorprogrammed use pet identification to recognize a pet and then dispense20-40 ug/mL/Kg/day of iodine of said molecular iodine solution from saidmolecular iodine dispenser into said drinking container based on astored profile for that pet;
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thepet-access drinking container is flushed of molecular iodine after a petdrinks.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor only dispensesmolecular iodine solution once per day for each pet recognized.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein said solution of molecular iodine alsocontains a vitamin or nutrient.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein saidpet identification module contains an RFID reader.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 3 wherein the RFID reader operates on a frequency of approximately13.56 MHz.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pet-access drinkingcontainer is stainless steel.
 8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein thepet-access drinking container is also used as a reflector for an RFIDinterrogation radio signal.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 furthercomprising a pet presence indicator light wherein said pet presenceindicator light is mounted on top of the apparatus and shielded fromsight of the pet.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pet-accessdrinking container is approximately 6 inches deep.
 11. An apparatus forinjecting a molecular iodine into pet drinking water comprising: a petdrinking container; a double filter cartridge including an activatedcharcoal filter and a debris filter; a continuously-running circulationpump, wherein said circulation pump is constructed to pass water fromsaid pet drinking container through the filter cartridge to removeexcess molecular iodine from the water; a substance dispenser containinga solution of molecular iodine in absolute alcohol; a pet identificationmodule including a reader adapted to read a passive RFID tag worn by apet to produce a pet identification; a processor programmed use the petidentification to recognize a pet and then dispense a predeterminedamount of the molecular iodine from the substance dispenser into the petdrinking container, said predetermined amount of molecular iodine beingan amount required by that particular pet.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11wherein the processor only dispenses molecular iodine solution to aparticular pet once per day.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein thepet drinking container is metal, and the pet drinking container is alsoused as a reflector for an REID interrogation radio signal.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 11 further comprising a pet presence indicator lightwherein said pet presence indicator light is mounted on top of theapparatus and shielded from sight of the pet.
 15. The apparatus of claim11 wherein the pet drinking container is approximately 6 inches deep.16. An apparatus constructed to dispense a solution of molecular iodineinto a pet's drinking water, the molecular iodine improving the pet'shealth and preventing bad breath, the apparatus comprising, incombination: an RFID scanner configured to read a passive RFID tag wornby a pet approaching the apparatus, the RFID scanner outputting a uniquepet identification based on the passive REID tag; a processor adapted tocompute a predetermined amount of molecular iodine to be injected intothe pet's drinking water based on the unique pet identification, saidpredetermined amount being an amount of molecular iodine required forthat particular pet; a dispenser containing a solution of moleculariodine in absolute alcohol; the processor executing stored instructionsto dispense a predetermined amount of molecular iodine into the drinkingwater for the pet; a continuously running pump configured to circulatethe drinking water through an activated charcoal filter to remove excessmolecular iodine not consumed by the pet, and a debris and hair filter.17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the processor only dispensesiodine solution to a particular pet once per day.
 18. The apparatus ofclaim 16 further comprising a metal pet drinking bowl.
 19. The apparatusof claim 18 wherein the metal pet drinking bowl is also used as areflector for an REID interrogation radio signal from the REID scanner.20. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a pet presenceindicator light said pet presence indicator light being mounted on topof the apparatus and shielded from sight of the pet.